Thoughts and Non Thoughts

Revisiting this combination. Got it dialled in.  Settings on the Technics SL1200 mk2. VTF 1.5 g Height at “1” (for 15.9 mm) Antiskate 1.4 Jolida JD9: 47k ohm, 220 pf, low out, MM. Finally the right balance of warmth that’s not too thick, and abundant detail that is smooth.  This vintage cart is that good. 

We’re talking about two-decade old speakers. The Diamond series is one of the longest running models in the Wharfedale brand. Considered above entry-level but not pretending to compete against ultra high end speakers. These were well-reviewed when these designed-in-England speakers came out in 2004. Are they still good in 2026? A resounding yes. These speakers, recalled to active duty, have exceeded my expectations. When one cable used is more expensive than the speakers, the expression “punching above its weight” is an understatement. But maybe that’s all it needs, to be partnered with good equipment and source to let them shine.  Amplifier: LSA Standard Integrated  Cables: VdH CS122, Acoustic Zen Matrix Reference Source: Technics SL1200 mk2 with Nagaoka MP110 Phono stage: Jolida JD9 Vinyl: Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out, Columbia 6-eye 1996 Listening room about 16 square meters Impressive musicality, textured mids, tuneful bass, enough high frequency detail. Smooth, non-fat...

Audio quality is not the first thing that comes to mind when you look at Bluetooth speakers. Let alone a single speaker. I’m not saying it will beat my Rega Elex driving floorstanders. But close your eyes and throw away any bias, and you’ll hear music. Fun, loud, and clear. The bass is quite full and tuneful. It’s primarily aimed at portability, for parties without worrying about wired connections. But I personally enjoyed it most playing Duke Ellington via Spotify. Perhaps those mono jazz recordings suit the Beats Pill’s warm and full-bodied mono sound. That was pleasant and unexpected. As a side note, I think there was a marginal improvement connecting it via USB cable to my iPhone 16 vs Bluetooth. But you can totally enjoy it with Bluetooth.  Happy New Year! 

All the positive reviews are true. It’s an excellent amplifier. Musical, effortless and refined. The digital input is very good, via optical link from a WiiM Pro Plus streamer. The most pleasant surprise is the phono stage. The best I’ve heard with the Nagaoka MP-110 on a Technics 1200 mk2. With a turntable, streamer, and speakers, it’s the only thing you’ll need for a really good audio system. 

I got this Jico N44G stylus a few years ago but didn’t get to use them until now. It’s the bonded tip version before Jico stopped making them, costing around $35 at the time. For a conical tip, it sounds pretty detailed and well balanced across the frequency range. It has the Shure warmth and weighty yet agile bottom. I find loading at low capacitance brings out the higher frequencies to my liking. Jico now offers the “nude” version of this stylus at a much higher price ($113). A new “SD” (synthetic diamond) model is also available ($60) that claims to equal the performance of the bonded stylus (apparently discontinued due to difficulty in sourcing the bonded tips).  I am thoroughly enjoying the sweet nature of this stylus (mounted on a M55e body). I think its 6 mv output is just right for my phono stage too. Truly a gem, now out of hiding.

Back on rotation with the AT VM95E and the Nagaoka MP-110 on the Technics SL1200 mk2. The DV20XL is on a different level. Detailed but refined. Agile yet weighty bass.  Kei’s Song (David Benoit) never sounded this good.

Lots of reviews praising this little device. To me it’s a real winner. Excellent integration with streaming services like Spotify and Tidal, it has a very user-friendly app. Most of all it sounds great, a giant upgrade from my laptop. Connected via toslink to the MF V-DAC at 24/96 resolution, it plays CD quality or higher. Music on demand the way it was supposed to be -- convenient while sounding great.

  There are many reviews of the VM95 series of Audio-Technica cartridges, many of them positive, even effusive . I have been biased by the description of AT carts as "bright-sounding" hence have avoided them as my system/room tends to be unforgiving of bright playback. Having finally tried the green AT-VM95E elliptical, I must say that this is not a bright cart, actually falling into the warm side of neutral.  Quiet a well-balanced sound. I won't repeat all the reviews, but one thing that impressed me immediately was the relatively quiet background (coming from a Shure M55E with Jico stylus). Compared to the Shure, the AT is less mid-forward and more extended in the higher frequencies. The VM95 cartridge has a practical advantage -- one can easily swap the stylus to any of the other models, from the conical VM95C all the way to microline VM95ML and shibata VM95SH models. It was a matter of seconds to switch to the blue VM95C.  The conical is more rounded at the lower...

  Rega RP3 with Exact cartridge. A modern take on a hundred-year-old technology. NAD 304 integrated amplifier from the '90s. Phono stage is a Schiit Mani, a good match to the Rega Exact. Tannoy 605LE from 30 years ago. Fleetwood Mac "Rumours.” Warm crunchy guitars. Sounds so good on this system. Good music doesn't grow old. Today’s modern audio will one day become vintage. And still sound good.

  The ifi Zen Phono is a phono stage described as "detailed and clean," not to mention "high-end" at a relatively modest price. I paired it with the Denon DL-103 cartridge, a classic conical moving-coil (MC) with a design dating back to the 1960's. The DL-103 is described as warmish, with a rich midrange, dynamic but perhaps lacking extension at the frequency extremes. The ifi Zen Phono and the DL-103 complement each other.  The VPI Scout, a belt-driven turntable with the unipivot JMW-9 arm, lives up to the task of bringing out the dynamics and control from the above combination. The output from the Zen Phono goes to a Cambridge CXA60, which is used as a pre-amp. A Conrad Johnson MV55 power amplifier injects the right amount of tube warmth to the playback.  A pair of LSA2 floorstanders rounds up the system for a full range toe-tapping experience. I also tried the ifi Phono with a MM cart, but it shines best with low output MCs like the DL-103. The other descript...

    Quick answers: 1. The SL1200 and the DV20xl make a good match (compliance, arm weight). 2. Ortofon SH-4 headshell perfect for it. VTF at 2 grams and same anti-skate, arm level. 3. The Jolida JD9 phono stage with gold pin Tungsol 12ax7 gives it that warm analog sound. Impedance at 100 ohms. The DV20xl on the SL1200 is refined, no sibilance, not in-your-face treble but warmish midrange, solid bass, good treble. In other words on the warmer side of neutral. This is perfect for well recorded and good condition vinyl, particularly jazz, light classical, classic rock. For banged-up records, maybe I'll swap it with one of my MM carts.

  Conventional wisdom says that the Denon DL-103 "wants a heavy tonearm," not the likes of the JMW9 on the VPI Scout, which is a low/medium mass arm. Took me a while to do it but glad I did. It sounds fantastic. No distortion or resonance. Just the sweet full sound of the Denon. I believe the rest of the system is important too, primarily, I think, a high-gain phono stage is a must. In audio one always has to try out and see if "conventional wisdom" holds. Another such "wisdom" is that conicals lack detail. I believe the Denon in this set-up disproves it. The cart before this was a Dynavector DV20XL. For now I will enjoy the Denon on the VPI Scout. Settings: VTF 2.5 grams, neutral/minimal anti-skate Phono stage: Jolida JD9 at 100 ohms, 47pf, gain setting 2, hi output, Sovtek Mullard reissue 12ax7s Cambridge CXA60 used as pre-amp, Conrad Johnson MV55 power amplifier LSA Tower 2 speakers Cables: VPI phono, Ecosse Maestro, Audioquest Red River, Rega Duet

The Schiit Mani . There's a lot of reviews on the web of this $129 Schiit, this one from Stereophile among the better-written ones. I don't want to add another review, just want to share how the addition of the Mani made my system more flexible, particularly due to its various gain settings. The importance of phono gain settings can't be overemphasized in matching carts and amps. Here are two threads from an audio forum that cover this in detail. (The advantage of forums like this over FB is the archival and search-friendly properties.) This one is more technical and mathematical, specially in calculating optimum phono stage gain. Selecting appropriate phono preamp gain This second one is more subjective but no less insightful. The good the bad of too much gain Going back to my system, the analog input sensitivity of my integrated amp is 200mV. Applying the formula for a 5-mV output cart gave me an optimum gain of 32 dB at the phono stage. Most phono stag...

After Shure announced they would stop producing phono products (read cartridge and stylus), I quickly ordered another M97xe before prices took off. But I was too late for the M44-7 (and M44G) as prices already doubled, so I decided to take stock of my inventory. Found two M44-7 cart bodies and one near mint stylus. Also found a M55E with N55E that I've forgotten. So maybe these carts will last me a lifetime. But I needed to match them with stylus so ordered some from Jico Japan. They came in nice jewel cases. These are diamonds after all.  😊 After some testing and mix and matching, found some viable combinations, but this is the one I'm currently enjoying. M55E body with Jico N55E stylus tracking at 1.70 g. Sounding quite nice.  😊

Now that Shure has announced that thry will discontinue their phono products (Shure announcement) some DJs and audiophiles are suddenly taking stock of their Shure cartridges and styli. "Turntablists" specially are talking about the M44-7, which has become the standard DJ cartridge. It is now out of stock at Amazon, except for some vendors selling at $150 (previously $79). The M97xe, aimed at audiophiles, doesn't have the mid-bass hump that the M44-7 has, and has a lower output. There were some quality-related issues reported, particularly incidences of a channel going dead. Nevertheless, for those who got good copies, not a few preferred the M97xe for home audio listening. Save for a couple of years when I put in a Rega Exact on my Technics SL1200 mk2 (the Exact is now happily singing on a RP3), I have been using a M97xe on this table. I got it for $61 when it went on sale at Amazon almost 9 years ago. I can say it's the best $61 I've spent on analog gear...

Though the Shure cartridge is the cheapest component (except for the cables), it doesn't let the rest of the system down. The SL1200 also comes into fore as a capable player, worthy of any audiophile. I wrote my first impressions briefly here , but have since tweaked and optimized it with my system. Here's the rest of the system and settings. Shure M97xe cartridge: 1.25 g tracking force brush up, 1.25 g anti-skate, arm level or slightly tail up SL1200 turntable with 3mm mat underneath original rubber mat LSA Standard Amplifier with NOS Tesla 6922 tubes , Mundorf caps  Straightwire Chorus interconnects from built-in phono to line Dynaudio Contour 1.3 mkII speakers on wooden stands with metal base Van den Hul CS122 speaker cables But it's how it's put together, not the individual components, that makes this rig very musical. Hours of set-up, tube rolling, and, yes, cables to get that perfect synergy. One can talk about soundstage, ton...

This cart sounded best at a tracking force of 2.1 grams. It's the final touch to the fine tuning of the system. In audio nirvana right now.

Grabbed a few LPs from Burlington Square in Singapore, including the one playing above, along with some vacuum tubes. Now I haven't tube rolled in a long while, but neither have I spent a lot of time with my tube system, favoring instead the plug-and-play LSA integrated. But with a couple of hours on my hands, decided to try the Mullard 12ax7 reissues in the tubed phono stage (Jolida JD9). It was great. But like any system, you change one part you have to adjust the whole thing. So what started as a phono tube tweak turned out to be a changing of the tubes. Jolida JD9: Mullard 12ax7 reissues are in, Tungsol gold pins (New Sensor) are out. Tono Violin pre-amp: RCA black glass 6sn7s are in, Raytheons are out. CJ MV55: Svetlana EL34s are back in, Tungsol reissues are out. The result: bliss. Test records: Style Council's Café Bleu. Simon and Garfunkel's Parsley, Sage, Rosemarie and Thyme. Oh, and Ed Sheeran sounded great.

This yearly event has gotten bigger and bigger. It's new home, the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati, is a perfect venue, with a few function rooms occupied by the big set-ups and the demo rooms now occupying two floors.  These Wilsons driven by Plinius amps from Listening In Style are quite impressive and weighty. In looks and in sound. The Focal-based system from AVDI is very good indeed. Detailed and neutral. If I had to choose a cost-no-object system, it would have to be this system from Architectural Audio. Magico Q5 speakers driven by Hegel amplification with Naim as source.  It is very realistic, as if the performance is right in front of you.  Just natural sound, music playback at its best, and what hi-fi should be about. Proudly Philippine made.  The Harana Audio brand can stand toe-to-toe with the megabuck imported brands and systems.  These are built by hand by audio enthusiasts and designers.  This horn-based syst...

Found use for my iPad first gen as a dedicated music server, streaming Spotify into my stereo system. I was very pleasantly surprised at the very good sound quality, considering I'm using the headphone out jack. A little search on google showed that this iPad uses a very good Cirrus Logic DAC and the output impedance from the headphone out is low (ie, good). Apparently RMAA measurements are very good too. Really enjoying Spotify through this set-up. Played James Taylor and Diana Krall. Sound is clear yet not thin or digital sounding at all. I daresay that it compares very well with vinyl playback on my Technics SL1200 with Rega Exact cartridge played through the same system. What a treat! System: LSA Standard Integrated amp with NOS Tesla 6922 tubes LSA 2 Towers connected via Rega speaker cables